Jacksonville police officer killed in Tuesday morning crash

Dan Scanlan @scanlan_dan

Tuesday

May 15, 2018 at 1:38 PMMay 15, 2018 at 1:43 PM

The officer crashed his police car about 4:30 a.m. down an embankment on northbound I-295 near Alta Drive.

JACKSONVILLE — A Jacksonville police officer has been killed in an early morning crash on Interstate 295 while responding to another wreck in the rain, the department's first on-duty death in four years, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The officer, who has not been identified pending notification of family, crashed his police car about 4:30 a.m. down an embankment on northbound I-295 near Alta Drive, according to Sheriff Mike Williams. The patrol car had significant damage.

He called it tragic that an officer trying to help someone else is killed in a crash.

"It's a tough day for JSO and the city overall," Williams said. "If you are going to get hurt in this job, one of the main ways is a traffic crash of some sort. This just reinforces the point we have been talking about for a little bit more than a year now about traffic safety. ... It's another reminder of the risk that the men and women of JSO take on every day."

This was at least the 13th officer-involved wreck this year in Jacksonville, according to Times-Union records.

Mayor Lenny Curry, who had just joined the sheriff Monday to help announce a new summer program for at-risk children and families in Grand Park, responded early Tuesday with his own condolences on Twitter, saying "I mourn."

"Our city mourns," Curry wrote. "Sheriff Williams called me before sunrise as details were unfolding. This is sad/terrible news. Prayers for the family and all the men and women that protect us. Your city stands with you."

Williams said the rainy weather may have been a contributing factor in the crash, which was seen by at least one Florida Highway Patrol unit. The officer was on the midnight shift when the crash occurred, and he died at the hospital, Williams said.

Tuesday also is Police Memorial Day, with the sheriff noting that a contingent of his officers and the honor guard are in Washington for the ceremonies. Florida has suffered the loss of four law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in the last month. Tuesday also is the memorial for Highlands County Deputy William Gentry, 40, shot May 7 while investigating a dispute between neighbors about a cat that was killed.

The Sheriff's Office first reported the wreck at 7 a.m., then tweeted the officer's death a few minutes later.

"Our hearts are breaking as we work a police vehicle crash at I295/Alta involving a JSO police officer who has died this morning," the tweet said.

A later morning tweet from @JSOPIO showed a Sheriff's Office shield with a black band across it, saying that on this Police Memorial Day, "the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office lost one of our own in a police vehicle crash. Please keep their family, co-workers, friends, and fellow officers in your prayers."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott also tweeted his condolences Tuesday morning, writing that he and his wife were "heartbroken."

"We ask all Floridians to join us in praying for this officer’s family and loved ones during this terribly difficult time," Scott said.

The Highway Patrol is investigating the single-vehicle crash. As to what people can do to memorialize the officer with flowers and the like, the sheriff said his department would be announcing what they can do soon. The 61 officers killed in Jacksonville in the past 178 years are engraved on the 10-foot-tall Fallen Officers Memorial Wall in front of the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, the last name that of Officer Mark Larson who died in 2014 from injuries received earlier.

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